The Duke’s Affair – Part Two [Complited]

Everyone enjoyed the meal with the background music of the guzheng, engaging in light conversation, creating a harmonious and warm atmosphere, as if they were just ordinary people, not dukes, arms dealers, or underworld princesses. “Duke, Your Grace…” A bodyguard, disregarding etiquette, burst into the dining room: “There’s trouble…” “What’s the matter, to be so flustered?!” Jones asked with a stern face, setting down his chopsticks. Dean, Ye Ye, Ximen Xu, and Nangong Xun all paused their actions, looking towards the unusually agitated bodyguard at the door. “That, the young… lady, wife…” The bodyguard stuttered, his face full of difficulty… pointing towards the door… a chaotic patter of footsteps… low murmurs… a woman… a man… French… “Darling… I’m here…” [From Passion to Ardor: Chapter Eighty-Two, The Sudden Arrival of Misha] With a bright and cheerful female voice, a slender figure in a beige dress gracefully walked to the spot between Ye Ye and Dean, ignoring everyone else, she leaned down to plant a kiss on Dean’s lips… a gentle smile on her face… then she looked around at everyone, still maintaining a proper smile. Ximen Xu and Nangong Xun simultaneously put down their chopsticks, and Jones watched quietly… Ye Ye was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the legitimate Duchess, not panicked, but extremely embarrassed… watching Misha’s elegant kiss on Dean’s lips… her heart ached… yet she didn’t know how to react… Misha stood between her and Dean, like an insurmountable chasm… a stark reminder that this was an unbridgeable fact! Dean looked at Misha coldly, puzzled as to why his wife, who never made surprise visits, would appear without warning today. He raised an eyebrow, his lake-blue eyes sweeping over Ye Ye, who was clearly lost in thought, feeling a complex emotion stir within him… “Have you all finished eating? Why are you so surprised to see me?” Misha asked lightly, suppressing the bitter pain of seeing another woman beside her husband… though her heart was bleeding… people are like this, hearing about something is one thing, seeing it with your own eyes is another… “How could we be, it’s been a while, Misha.” Ximen Xu was the first to react, greeting with a smile, trying to ease the somewhat frozen atmosphere. “Hello, young… lady.” Jones regretted for the first time why he had been so stubborn as not to agree to address Misha by her name like Ximen Xu and the others. Now, addressing Misha as the “young lady” in front of Ye Ye was like rubbing salt into the wound… Jones clearly saw Ye Ye’s face turn pale… Nangong Xun just nodded slightly, he was always the type to be indifferent, inscrutable, so no one minded whether he greeted or not. His beautiful eyes fell on Ye Ye to his left… even the baron, who was quietly eating on the side, perked up his ears… as if sensing the undercurrents of danger… Misha placed her hands on Dean’s shoulders, leaning against him, “Isn’t this Ye Ye, the pianist from the Paris ball? Why is she here too? Oh, I get it! Nangong, she must be your girlfriend, right?” Misha laughed brightly, deliberately pushing Ye Ye towards Nangong Xun… If you thought Misha came to confront her husband’s infidelity like a shrew, you’d be gravely mistaken—that’s the tactic of the most foolish women! And Misha, she would never make such a basic mistake because it would only push Dean further away… and this was where the gentle Misha was most formidable! No one expected Misha to think this way, and for a moment, they couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not. Dean frowned but didn’t speak; this scenario was beyond his expectations… Nangong Xun didn’t expect the fire to reach him, he took a deep look at Ye Ye, who seemed at a loss, leaned over, and quietly grasped her hands under the table: “Are you full?” He didn’t directly answer Misha’s question. Ye Ye was surprised that the usually aloof Nangong Xun would step up to help her, she turned her head in gratitude: “Yes…” nodding, not daring to look at Misha or Dean, fearing to see their intimacy… she just wanted to leave quickly! “Let’s go then.” Nangong Xun stood up, his large hand gripping Ye Ye’s slender arm, pulling her to her feet. “Okay!” Ye Ye stood up, not daring to say more, afraid her discomfort would show… the legitimate wife was here, what else could she do but leave? If Misha were aggressive, Ye Ye would know how to respond, but Misha’s gentle demeanor left her at a loss, feeling somewhat guilty… without a proper status, she lacked confidence! “Misha, we’re leaving!” Nangong Xun glanced at Dean indifferently, pulling Ye Ye, who hadn’t looked at the couple on her left, towards the door… “Uh… I have something to do… I’ll leave too!” Ximen Xu hurried to follow. “Your Grace, Young Lady, Jones will take his leave!” Jones also left quietly. The baron followed Ye Ye, making clinking noises… In an instant, the once convivial dining room was left with only Dean, his face impassive, and Misha, still smiling amiably. Dean stood up: “Misha, why are you here?” he asked, walking towards the dining room exit. Misha followed behind Dean: “I missed you, darling.” Dean’s gaze passed through the open doors of the hall, seeing Ye Ye, wearing only his silver-black shirt and sweatpants, shivering as she was led by Nangong Xun to his sports car, curling up like a cat in the seat as the car sped away, followed by Ximen Xu’s car… Dean felt a sense of helplessness for the first time… a very strange feeling… a very unfamiliar sensation… The baron whimpered softly, rubbing against Dean’s feet, as if telling of Ye Ye’s departure… Misha hadn’t missed the fact that Ye Ye was wearing her husband’s shirt, with its distinctive flame embroidery on the chest pocket, a logo on all of Dean’s shirts… it seemed Dean’s affection for Ye Ye was far greater than her investigations had revealed… Misha clenched her fists behind her back, smiling on the outside, but crying inside… yet she had to bravely defend her marriage, if she faltered now, she would only be left with divorce! “Darling, next Sunday is our second wedding anniversary, your grandmother and mom have already prepared for us. They asked when you’ll return to Paris, I thought you must be very busy with work, especially with the grand project, so I came here personally to be with you, to take care of your daily needs… Once you’ve arranged your work, we can go back together.” Misha linked her arm with Dean’s, speaking gently. Dean carefully observed Misha, unable to discern any displeasure in her. He was even more clueless about what Misha thought of Ye Xie… “I’ll go back for the anniversary, but Misha, you’ve never been like this before…” Dean said, staring at Misha to gauge her reaction. Misha responded with a relaxed smile, “Darling, firstly, I really missed you. Secondly, the elders at home have been blaming me, saying that my husband works so hard managing such a vast estate, and I’m not helping at all. So, I thought I should take better care of your daily life, to share some of your burdens. After thinking it over, I decided to come and surprise you… But if you’re not happy, I’ll leave right away…” As she spoke, Misha lowered her head with a hint of sadness in her eyes, which was actually her true emotion at that moment… “Sir, Lord Lei Jie is online, waiting for your video call.” Jones stood at one end of the corridor, speaking to Dean. “Alright, Misha, since you’re here, find a room to stay in for now. I have some business with Lei Jie,” Dean said, relieved to have a reason to step away, and Jones had indeed done him a favor. “Sure, darling, don’t worry about me, this is also my home!” Dean glanced at Misha one last time, feeling that his usually gentle wife seemed very different today… Together with Jones, he strode towards the conference room on the first floor. The Baron followed him with a clattering sound… Watching Dean’s retreating figure, the innocent smile on Misha’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a complex and sorrowful expression… Was her husband really only leaving her with his noble back? [From Passion to Burning Love: Eighty-Three, The Sudden Arrival of Misha] Observing the silent maids in the corner, Misha smiled bitterly. Even the servants looked at her, the young mistress, with such unfamiliarity and distance, as if she were an intruder rather than the lady of the house… How tragic… Her constant tolerance and retreat had forced her into such a powerless situation… With a mournful smile, she realized she had been wrong… Therefore, from now on, she would fight back! Carrying her simple suitcase, Misha ascended to the second floor, a part of the villa she had never visited before, but she had seen its layout countless times on an anonymous disc… Standing in the living room directly opposite the stairs on the second floor, there was a corridor to the right with rooms on both sides. To the left was a large, dark double door, which she knew was Dean’s suite… Letting go of her luggage, Misha took a deep breath and pushed open the door on the left… The first thing she saw was a small living room, with a study separated by frosted glass to the left and a door to the right. Misha mustered her courage; she knew this was the room her husband shared with another woman… She didn’t want to enter, fearing the pain it would bring, yet she also wanted to see, still holding onto a sliver of hope that there would be no trace of another woman… After scanning the living room, Misha slowly approached the bedroom door on the right and pushed it open… The air was filled with the faint scent of perfume mixed by Ye Xie… She had smelled it at a Parisian ball; it was the fragrance shared by Ye Xie and her husband… Misha took a bitter sniff of the sweet aroma filling the room… The luxurious bed was adorned with violet bedding, embroidered with golden patterns… These colors, these lavish designs, were not her husband’s style… By the bed were two pairs of slippers, one large and one small, one black and one purple… On the nightstand on the right were some women’s skincare products and a jewelry box… On a chaise lounge by the window lay several cartoon-patterned cushions and a large rabbit plush toy… On a small coffee table beside it was a woman’s handbag… Tears silently rolled down Misha’s cheeks as she tremblingly opened the large wardrobe against the wall, where clothes of her husband and Ye Xie were arranged side by side, so intimately… She slammed it shut, almost masochistically, and rushed into the bathroom to see just how intimate they were! In the bathroom, toiletries were in pairs, one black set and one purple set. On the long vanity, skincare products of both her husband and Ye Xie were placed side by side, along with their shared perfume… Misha gripped the edge of the vanity, trying to suppress her near collapse… Looking at herself in the mirror, pale and biting her lip, yet unable to stop the pain and tears, she felt self-mockery and embarrassment, seeing the intimacy between her husband and another woman, a sweetness she had sought for so long, now like an invisible hand choking her, making her heart suffocate… Suddenly, Misha’s gaze fell on a bottle of coffee-colored pills. Picking it up, she examined it closely; it was birth control! She knew this drug, the most advanced and expensive contraceptive in the world, each pill worth its weight in gold, with no side effects, short-lived in the body but highly effective… She had once wanted to take it, but Dean had disagreed, insisting on using condoms, which had subtly distanced her… Now, here was this drug… Could it be… Misha frantically searched, wanting to confirm that her husband hadn’t been intimate with that woman to the extent of forgoing protection. She opened almost every drawer, even checked the trash can… but found nothing. She slumped against the wall… What to do? Their intimacy was far beyond her imagination, completely overturning Dean’s usual principles! She was sure Dean had never been this special to anyone before! Could it be—could it be that Dean had fallen in love with that girl? Misha left the room in anger, crossing through the small living room to Dean’s study. She no longer cared about adding salt to her already bleeding heart; having come this far, she wasn’t afraid of discovering more shocking things! She wanted to see clearly, thoroughly, how deeply this woman named Ye Xie had infiltrated her husband’s world! In the study, on the large black desk, were two wide-screen black laptops, elegant lamps, and abstract sculptures… There seemed to be no trace of a woman… Misha sat in the large executive chair, opening every drawer she could, finding nothing of Ye Xie’s, breathing a sigh of relief… Leaning back in the chair… trying to calm her grief and anger… The screen of the computer displayed a screensaver, automatically cycling through photos—